Love Your Local Band: Worship

First off, Worship wants everyone to know that, unlike Highlander, there can be more than one, and they are not to be confused with the disbanded Bavarian band.

“The first theme we could think of was the fact that we worship amplification,” says guitarist Josh Espinoza. “It seemed to fit the style and theme pretty spot on, while not conflicting with any other band name within our style, era, even country of origin.”

The four-piece sludge metal project from Salinas has been destroying the local metal scene since 2013. Espinoza, Richard Douglas and Tony Munoz originally met in the late ’90s and early 2000s while playing in the local hardcore and metal scene. The three would regularly play together, interchanging members from their bands the Wrath and Fate Thirteen, until they finally decided to form a central, cohesive unit.

“Alex was kind enough to fill in on drums a few times and naturally became a great friend that would make us all want to jam out together,” says Espinoza.

Between 2013 and 2015, Worship would combine their hardcore roots with the influences of past metal gods—Black Sabbath, Neurosis, Led Zeppelin and more—for an intense sound that grabs your nerves like a punch to the face. In 2015, they unleashed the onslaught to the world in the form of a seven song, full-length album about the trials of life called All Too Human. Last year, they delighted their fans with the announcement of a follow-up album, to be released later this year.

“Without giving too much away, lyrically it is a personal journey, a space odyssey, full of themes that can hopefully relate to anyone that has dealt with internal conflict,” Espinoza ponders. “Oh man, that might be giving too much away already.”

The band is playing at the Blue Lagoon on Jan.11, along with local acts Treeherder and Dustern, and will be blowing minds and ears at the Santa Cruz Music Festival in February.

“Santa Cruz will always be our favorite part about where we started,” says Espinoza. “The support has been so immense, yet intimate enough to be very special to us.”

Mat Weir originally hails from Southern California but don't hold that against him. For the past decade he has reported on the Santa Cruz music scene and has kept the reading public informed on important community issues such as homelessness, rent hikes, addiction and social injustices. He is a graduate from UCSC, is friends with a little dog name Ruckus and one day will update his personal page, WeirdJournalism.com.